Gone Away
by Nothing-Dies
Summary: Starfire suddenly disappears and Robin is going nuts. He finally realizes his feelings for her, but is it too late?
1. Capture

Disclaimer: I don't own…You can't sue

Author's notes: Takes place between Aftershock II and Haunted. I've been working on this for quite some time and I have 30 chapters mapped out (some complete, some not) so hopefully now that I have this up and running on fanfiction I can post the rest fairly quickly. Reviews needed, flames will be used as kindling….enjoy.

Chapter 1: Capture

The first thing Starfire became aware of was the pain. Her face, no, her whole body, ached. She shifted her weight to try to sit up and was rewarded with nausea and dizziness. She opened her eyes and tried to take in her situation. It was dark and cold and she was lying on a concrete floor. As her eyes got used to the darkness she realized that she was in some sort of cell. There was a door with a small, barred opening, but there were no windows. "This is not good." she thought to herself, "I must find a way to escape or contact the others. I must get up." She slowly forced herself into a sitting position. Taking a moment to rest before trying to stand, she tried to remember...

"Where am I and how did I get here and where are my friends?" she questioned herself. What _had _happened? She remembered coming back to the tower after enjoying a morning flight and watching the sunrise. She had landed on the roof and was going toward the door when she felt a sharp pain at the back of her neck. Turning to face her attacker, she had tried to summon her starbolts. Nothing happened. She tried to fly away. Nothing happened. She put a hand up where the pain had been and felt an object there. "It must be draining my powers." she thought.

Again searching for an adversary, she called out, "Who's there?" A man stepped out from behind one of the generators on the rooftop. Slade! He was alive! But how? How had he survived falling into molten hot lava? "Never mind that." she told herself. _He_ had done this to her! Somehow he had stolen her powers. She remembered taking a defensive stance. Slade haughtily approached her, not at all afraid of the now powerless Tamaranian.

She touched her hand to her cheek at the memory of what had happened next. Slade had backhanded her across the face, knocking her to the ground. As she skidded to a stop, he followed her. Before she could even try to lift herself off of the ground or wipe the blood from her mouth, he was there. He had knelt down, grabbed her by the hair, and held her face level to his. "Robin will pay for his disobedience…starting with you." he had muttered. She saw his other arm move; felt a new prick on her neck, and then the world fell away.

Now she was here, wherever here was. She had been attacked, robbed of her powers, drugged and brought to this place, this prison. There was nothing within the four concrete walls except her. No bed, no blanket, no toilet; nothing. It was cold and dark and empty. The only source of light was outside of the cell and it was very dim. She put a hand on her hip, feeling for her communicator. It was not there and something else seemed to be missing. She glanced down at herself and gasped. Her uniform was gone! Slade had taken away her gloves and arm band as well as her purple top, skirt, and boots; leaving her with only a sports bra and underwear. Even though nobody was around to care, she was suddenly very embarrassed. She drew her knees up to her chin and wrapped her arms around her legs. The situation had changed from 'not good' to 'really bad'. Without her the locator chip hidden in the chest plate of her top, the Titans had no way of finding her.

Another thought occurred to her…if she could get that thing off the back of her neck maybe her powers would return and she could escape. She reached back and felt it with her fingers. It was round, a little bigger than a quarter, about half an inch thick and stuck to her by several tiny claws that had dug into her flesh. She managed to get a grip on it with her fingernails and tried to pull it off. The device sent a blast of pain to her head, making the dizzying effects of the drug worse and causing her to let out a sharp groan. "That would have been too easy. I should have known better," she silently scolded.

She was stuck. No powers, no uniform, no communicator, no windows, no escape. Wondering what was outside of this tiny room, she pushed herself up on her feet and rose slowly so as not to exacerbate her now throbbing headache. She walked to the door and peeped out of the tiny window. Save for a lone light bulb hanging from the ceiling and a few crates in one corner, there was nothing to see. Having absolutely no view of the outside world, she guessed that this was some sort of basement and her cell was a large closet refitted with a heavier door. If there were stairs, they were beyond her scope of vision.

She took a few steps back from the door and sighed, letting her shoulders sag. Finally, she sat back down, curled up like earlier, and waited. She wanted to cry or scream, but she refused to give Slade the satisfaction of hearing her pain. Still woozy from the drugs and now tired from the exertion of getting up, she rested her forehead on her knees and dozed off.


	2. Gone

Chapter 2: Gone

Beast Boy and Cyborg were in the kitchen having the same argument they had at every meal. Being able to morph into any animal he chose, Beast Boy was a strict vegetarian. Cyborg, on the other hand, was an adamant carnivore. The furry green changeling and the half robot man yelled back and forth:

"I'm making tofu waffles!"

"Man, nobody wants your nasty tofu!"

"I do!"

"Too bad, I've already started edible waffles!"

"Dude, those waffles have eggs and milk in them!"

"Eggs and milk aren't meat!"

"They still come from animals…animals that I've been!"

"Nobody forced you to turn into a cow, although you are a little chicken!"

Cyborg laughed as Beast Boy fumed at the insult. Fists were about to fly when Raven used her powers to pick up the blender and whack Cyborg with it. Now it was Beast Boy's turn to laugh.

"You two better knock it off." she said in the dull, monotone voice, "Cyborg, just finish your waffles and then Beast Boy, you can make yours." Not once did she look up from the book she was reading. She allowed herself an inward grin as Beast Boy prepared the batter for his own waffles while continuing to tease Cyborg about getting the brunt of Raven's wrath (for once). Cyborg finished his own waffles, rubbing the back of his half-metal head, muttering something about 'crazed black magic blenders'.

Robin entered the common area and headed toward them. "Have you two settled on breakfast or do I have to mediate again?"

"Done it." said Raven, pointing to the broken blender on the floor and still not moving her eyes from her book. Robin sighed. They went through a lot of kitchen appliances…and windows and remotes and video game equipment…

He decided to change the subject, "Anybody seen Star?" All three replied no so he turned to go to her room and look for her. She was not in her room, everything was neat and clean and purple. The rooftop was her favorite thinking spot. She often went there to watch the sun rise and set. No Starfire there either. He walked further out onto the roof, looking to the skies to see if she was up there taking a morning flight. Still no Starfire. His foot crunched down on something, a rock? He looked down and saw a yellow and black compact with a white "T" in the center. A Titans communicator, probably Starfire's. Robin began to get nervous. Star wasn't one to leave her communicator behind. He grabbed his own from his side, flipped it open, and paged his teammates. "Guys, come up to the roof. I think something's happened to Star."

He closed the disk, returned it to its place on his belt, and began searching for more clues. It didn't take long to find something. He found a hypodermic syringe a few feet from the communicator. "Not good." he muttered to no one in particular. The door to the roof opened and Raven, Beast Boy, and Cyborg piled through.

"What's wrong?" Cyborg asked.

"Not sure. I came up here to look for Star and stepped on this." he held up her communicator for the others to see. "I started looking around some more and found this." now pointing to a spot at his feet.

The other Titans gathered around to see Robin's discovery. They became somber when they saw the used needle on the ground. Cyborg was the first to speak, "What I wanna know is; how did someone manage to nab Star without getting a face full of starbolts?"

Robin had no answer. He felt the urge to panic. Starfire was gone. _His_ Starfire was gone. His mind back-pedaled at that last thought. "_My Starfire_?" he thought, "Okay Robin, get a grip." The team needed to get down to business. He suppressed the panic and took control of the situation. "Cyborg, take this needle and see if you can get any residue or prints off of it. It probably contained a sedative, but find out exactly what if you can. Raven, go back down to the control center and see if Star's locator chip is still active. Beast Boy, help me look around here some more. Everyone wordlessly moved to carry out Robin's orders.

Beast Boy morphed into a dog and began sniffing around while Robin headed in the opposite direction. He didn't get far before Beast Boy assumed his normal form and called him over.

"What did you find?" Robin questioned.

Beast Boy's face was grim, which said a lot. Beast Boy was a born joker and rarely took anything seriously. "It's blood. I picked up the scent."

Kneeling down beside his green friend, Robin inspected the new find. Beast Boy was right. The dark puddle was small, but there was no doubt as to its contents. Now thoroughly frustrated at the whole situation, Robin stood back up. "Let's go see if Cyborg and Raven found anything."

The two boys met up with Raven in the hallway. "I was headed to the lab, her locator chip isn't showing up." she said. The three of them walked together, hoping Cyborg had had better luck than they.

Robin turned it over in his head as they walked. Star was gone; she had been beaten, drugged, and kidnapped. It wasn't much to go on. How had all this happened without a single one of them hearing it? Who would do this and why? What did they want? He tried to come up with some likely suspects and got nothing. Blackfire wouldn't have been so subtle, Slade was dead, Terra was still trapped in her stone prison, and he couldn't imagine Cinderblock, Plasmus, or Overload coming up with such an elaborate scheme. Mad Mod? No. Those brats from the Hive. They might have been able to pull off something like this… It wasn't a very good lead, but it was someplace to start and someone to hit.

Cyborg hadn't been able to find any prints. Whoever it was, they were smart enough to wear gloves. He had, however, been able to identify the substance in the syringe as Ketamine.

Robin didn't think his stomach could sink any lower, but the thought of someone using such a powerful drug on Starfire made him sick. He went over the reasoning he had done on the way to the lab, adding to it that they could work on the source of the tranquilizer next. The others agreed with his logic. The Hive would be their starting point.

Beast Boy stayed behind in case a distress signal or ransom came through. The three remaining Titans went looking for their friend.


	3. Prison

Chapter 3: Prison

Starfire awoke, still groggy, but no longer dizzy. Using the wall to support herself, she stood up and prepared to take another look around. She tested the door and the bars in the door. They would not budge without her superhuman strength. She heard a door open and close and footsteps. Stepping back from the door, she readied herself for an escape attempt. Two locks turned and the door swung open.

"I see that you have had the chance to examine your accommodations. I hope you find them…uncomfortable. You're going to be here awhile."

"Why have you done this? What do you want?" Star questioned as she continued to search for an exit.

"Simple, child." Slade explained in his smooth monotone voice. "I have come to understand that Robin will never become my apprentice. He has the ability, but it is not in his nature. This makes him an adversary, a liability. I plan to destroy him by destroying the one he cares for most."

"But you died…" she insisted, "We saw it!" Her brain barely registered the comment about Robin caring for her most.

"An android…nothing more." He answered with a dismissive wave. "I knew Terra would turn on me, so I sent a robot to die in my place. It was really quite simple. I thought the Teen Titans would have known better…I thought Robin would have known better."

He turned his away from her and clasped his hands behind his back. "All of the technology hidden in your uniform has been destroyed. The device on the back of your neck is a neural scrambler. It neutralizes your powers and it prevents your witch friend from using her powers to find you. Nobody knows I'm alive and nobody knows that I've taken you. No one is going to save you." He sounded quite pleased with himself and Starfire suddenly felt the urge to do him great bodily harm.

She decided to take this opportunity to try to catch him by surprise and, with a yell, ran at him. He spun out of the way at the last second, grabbed her by the arm, and flung her into the wall. She hit hard, scraping the skin of her body against the rough concrete as she slid down.

"There is a drainage hole in the center of the room if you need to use the facilities." She heard the door clang shut. "Enjoy your stay." The locks clicked into place and she was alone again.

She let herself fall onto her side and began to weep. Slade was right, they would never find her. She would die here…eventually.


	4. Searching

Chapter 4: Searching

The Titans managed to bust the Hive trio during an attempted bank robbery, but they had turned up nothing useful. By the time Robin finished with him, Gizmo would have given up his own mother. He knew he had worked the kid over a little too much, but he refused to feel apologetic. Gizmo, Jinx, and Mammoth were criminals; surely they had done something else to deserve his wrath. His two teammates were quiet as Cyborg drove them home in the T-Car. Finally, Cyborg spoke. "We'll get her back, man. Don't worry, she's a Titan."

Robin made no reply. He couldn't help but worry. Whoever had taken her was powerful…dangerous. Robin still couldn't get over the fact that she had been taken from right over their heads while they fought over breakfast. It seemed so childish now. He had let her down. Anger, guilt, worry, and the need for answers swam around his brain. Who could have taken such a sweet girl? What did they want? Why? The questions repeated themselves over and over, driving him nuts.

They got back to the tower and headed for the control center, hoping Beast Boy had heard something.

Beast Boy was sitting at the enormous console of screens and keyboards keeping his ears open for a signal, but his hands and brain busy with a handheld game. He jumped, trying to hide the game, as they came in.

"Anything?" Robin asked.

"Uhh…nope, nada." he stuttered, trying to hide his guilt. He knew he wasn't _really_ doing anything wrong, but he also knew better than to cross Robin at this time.

Robin either ignored or did not notice his nervousness. He turned around and headed for the hall. "I'm going to go do some research." he announced as the door slid open and shut around him.

As soon as Robin was out of earshot, Raven smacked Beast Boy upside the head. "OW…hey!" he yelped, ducking and jumping from the chair. She picked up the game he had hidden beneath him. "We have more important things to do than this." she said icily.

"Hey, I was supposed to monitor for a signal or a call and that's what I did!" he couldn't believe Raven was so mad. "Nobody said I had to stare at the screen until my eyeballs fell out!"

"Nobody said you could play games until your eyeballs fell out either." she snapped. One of the keyboards began shooting sparks, causing the boys to jump. Raven levitated, turned, and flew out of the room. "I have to meditate." she muttered.

Cyborg and Beast Boy looked at each other. "Dude, what's her deal?" the changeling whined.

"Things are pretty serious, man." the humanoid explained, "It looks like Star's in a lot of trouble and we've got nothing. Raven's worried about her and Robin. Rob flipped out on Gizmo earlier at the HIVE. He's taking this hard. It's like Slade all over again."

"Oh, great." Beast Boy sighed and rolled his eyes. Robin had been obsessed with Slade and went a little overboard on more than one occasion in his attempts to capture him.

"Look, go check out the roof again. Maybe you can find something we missed." Cyborg turned and studied the fried console. "I'll get this keyboard fixed."


	5. Captivity

Chapter 5: Captivity

The young alien girl sat alone in her cell and tried to think of an escape plan. She walked around the tiny room, feeling the walls for cracks that might show a secret passage or a structural weakness to be exploited. Although she did find a few small cracks here and there, she could tell that they would be of no use to her. She was becoming more and more depressed with her situation. Starfire loved sunshine and fresh air. In this dark and damp basement, there would be neither. She had no way of knowing how long she had been there. So far it felt like days, but her stomach told her that it had only been hours. Soon she would lose track of time.

Slade had said this was all an effort to punish Robin. How would keeping her here punish Robin? Perhaps he would miss her, but surely he would not suffer. She remembered what he had said about "the one Robin cared for most." Robin cared for her more than the others? How would Slade know of this, even if it were true? What could Slade be planning?

This was all very frustrating to Starfire. She had no powers, she was locked in this horrible closet with nothing but a small hole in the floor, there were no windows anywhere, her captor was a man thought to be dead, any method of contacting her friends had been lost, and she was cold and hungry and wanted her clothes back…or at least a blanket. The situation looked quite hopeless. But then, that was what Slade wanted, wasn't it.

Starfire finally put it all together and let herself realize what was going on. Whether it was true or not, Slade believed Robin loved Starfire. He had kidnapped her in order to kill her and upset Robin. Slade would be able to taunt Robin over her death and anger her friend into recklessness. It would give Slade the chance to kill Robin as well. The Titans had barely been able to stop Slade before. If this plan worked and he was able to destroy two of their team, Slade would almost surely defeat the remaining Titans and take over the city, possibly more. Her only hope was rather ironic. She had to hope that Robin did not care so much for her, that he would be angry with Slade for killing his friend and teammate, but not necessarily someone he loved.

But Starfire wanted Robin to love her. She had kept her feelings for him secret, afraid that he might not feel the same, but she had to admit that there were signs. A touch that lasted longer than necessary, his constant worry for her safety, his infinite patience for her unfamiliarity with Earth customs and slang, the way he was almost always the one to comfort her when she was upset. It all added up to something more than a mere friendship. And Slade had made a move before either one of them.

Robin considered Slade to be his worst enemy. She remembered the previous lengths he had gone to in his efforts to catch the man who now held her captive. Basically, everything she knew about Robin and Slade pointed to an ending that would not be happy. Normally full of smiles and hope, Starfire now became even more depressed as these thoughts repetitively whirled around in her head. She controlled the urge to once again break down and cry. That would not help. She had to stay strong and alert; she had to find a way out, be ready when her teammates came to her rescue. _If_ they came to her rescue.


	6. Beast Boy's Search

A/N: Thanks to my first reviewers…KorrianderXhal, OneLove, DeathsLastBreath, slapthecat, clueless90, aquastar12345, KodoraFairy, and LadyAmbrosine!

KodoraFairy – have I rambled? I would never ramble! I'm always quick to get to the point…very straightforward! Bah! Rambling!...oops 

OneLove – this story is rated M for extreme violence and a bit of language and sexual theming…it will happen soon…there will be some serious R/S fluff later on and possibly a sex scene. If not here, maybe a sequel? 

Chapter 6: Beast Boy's Search

A green hound dog roamed the streets of Jump City, sniffing everything that he passed. This was how Beast Boy had spent all of his free time during the last five days. He had gone to Starfire's room and sniffed around; smelling shampoos, perfumes, bed sheets, clothes, anything that might give him a lead on Star's whereabouts. Then he headed for town whenever he could, searching for her scent. He had learned that her shampoo was widely used and her perfume was also well liked. Many times he had followed his nose to some girl who was not Starfire, but used some product that his friend had also used.

Robin had caught the changeling snooping around Starfire's room and had yelled at him quite fiercely. The green teen had been taken aback at this reaction and noticed that Robin seemed stunned as well. He explained what he was doing and the Boy Wonder gave an embarrassed apology, telling Beast Boy that it was a good idea before scurrying off. Beast Boy left out a self-satisfied harrumph…once Robin was out of earshot, and wondered to himself what Robin was so worked up about. Granted, Star had been missing for almost a week and they still had no leads, but nobody else was going bonkers. Things had been quieter around the tower; nobody really felt like arguing or laughing much. Everybody was looking for Starfire in their own way and they were often tired from hours of searching, but at least Raven and Cyborg hadn't gone off the deep end.

Beast Boy continued his search. Her scent would only linger for so long and if it rained, he was out of luck, but he had to keep trying…just in case.

They had nothing to go on so nothing was out of the question. Maybe she had been kidnapped by a group of psychotic, power-hungry mutant sludge monsters. Maybe they were brainwashing her and forcing her to do their evil bidding. Brainwashed or not…she would still smell the same. He knew that if he suggested this theory to the others, he would get disgusted glares, but one of these days he was going to be right and all of his knowledge about zombies and other monsters would prove rather useful.


	7. Round One

A/N: Throughout the story I try to keep Starfire's timeline and the Titans timeline fairly in synch…but it's not perfect. Remember, Star has no idea how long she has been missing so specific time is not a factor, but in my Titans chapters I try to put in clues to help place things. Chap 6 had her missing for 5 days, but this chapter would be only about 2 days. Read on…review lots - nothingdies

Chapter 7: Round One

Starfire was getting hungry. And bored. She was beginning to feel claustrophobic and wondered when Slade would come back. She had started humming songs to herself to keep her mind occupied and fill the silence in the room. After humming a few Tamaranian songs, she moved on to music she had learned since her arrival on earth. A song by Dido popped into her mind first and she began softly singing the words. 'I know you think that I shouldn't still love you, or tell you that…' The irony was not lost on her. After finishing the song, she decided to stop for awhile. She was getting thirsty and had no idea if or when Slade might give her something to eat or drink.

She decided to sit down, as far away from the door as possible, and try to meditate. Slade had said that the device on her neck would prevent Raven from using her psi powers to find Starfire, but it was something new to try.

She sat down in the lotus position, straightened her spine, closed her eyes, and focused on her breathing. Borrowing Raven's mantra, she began to chant, "Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…Azarath, Metrion, Zinthos…" Her goal was to free her mind from this cell, to let her consciousness roam even though her body was stuck.

The sound of the locks turning and the door swinging open seemed distant. Slade's voice however, became quite close when he grabbed her arm and jerked her to her feet, shattering her meditation with a, "Get up!"

She struggled for balance and tried to prepare herself for another escape attempt, or at least a defense. The first blow was a slap to her face that made her neck snap to the left. Slade still held her arm in an iron grip. "If I can just get him to let go of my arm…" She moved to kick him. He did let go of her arm, but only to grab her leg and then punch her square in the nose. With only one foot to stand on she fell backwards. She tried to catch herself with her hands, to protect her head from the floor and managed to do so with only a sprained wrist. Blood dribbled from her nose. Slade let go of her leg, which flopped to the floor to join the rest of her body, and bent down. "You are making this too easy. At least Robin could provide me with some sort of challenge. It is almost not worth the time." He pulled a knife from behind him and held it to her neck. "Maybe I should just slit your throat now and get it over with." He eyed her through his mask, watching for a sign of fear. Starfire was definitely afraid, but she tried her best to hide it. "Think, move, fight, do SOMETHING!" her brain screamed at her. She tried, once again, to kick at him. This shove did cause him to back off, but he only grabbed her ankle and began twisting her leg. She could feel the tendons and joints straining. She knew enough to roll with it and try to pull her ankle about of his grasp.

Suddenly, she was free! She had yanked her ankle away and Slade was caught off balance. As he stumbled backwards, she leapt to her feet and began to run. "Lock him in!" she thought, "Just get to the door and slam it!" She had taken all of two steps when an arm wrapped around her waist. Starfire let out a squeak of disappointment as Slade's tackle sent them both tumbling towards the floor. Immediately, Slade was up and ready. She felt a hand grasp the back of her neck and lift her up. "_Now_ things are starting to get interesting." he murmured. He turned her so that she faced the back wall and launched her at it. She had been scrabbling at his hand around her neck and didn't have time to put her arms out to absorb the impact of the wall. She hit the wall with an 'oomph' and bounced off like a ball, landing face-up on the floor.

Slade stood over her and she knew he was wearing a cruel smile behind his mask. The next few blows came rapidly. He stomped a foot down on her abdomen, causing her to curl and roll to one side in pain. A kick to her back caused her to spasm from the now double-sided pain. She rolled again trying to protect her back, but only ended up exposing her face, to which Slade delivered a final kick, knocking her nearly senseless.

He stopped to admire his work, to watch his prisoner cringe with fear and pain. "Yes, I believe you will be able to hold my interest after all." his smooth voice lulled in her ear, "Lucky you."


	8. Raven's Search

A/N: Sorry the new chapters are coming so slowly. I am having trouble with this next little bit, but I assure you that this story will be completed! The chapters will also get longer as I go (winks at Neya). And for those of you who think Slade is bad now…just wait. (nudges DeathsLastBreath and somekindafreaky) heeheehee.

Thank you's go my latest reviewers: bananafritz, DeathsLastBreath, Tiffany, deadlyabyss12, somekindafreaky, dan, animefan127, Neya, and Soccer C.C. Please keep reading and reviewing…it's my fuel. A special thank you to Tim and Krista who know me and have been reading along with everyone else and have not run away from me yet. 

Chapter 8: Raven's Search – 10 days

Raven was an empath; she could sense others feelings and emotions. Normally she could sense each of her teammates. It was easy to block them out when necessary, but it was a good way to keep tabs on everyone. Of her four friends, Starfire had always been the easiest to read and the most difficult to block. The Tamaranian tended to be very open with her emotions, psychically and otherwise. But Raven had not been able to connect with Starfire since she disappeared over a week ago. She had been blocking at the time of the kidnapping and did not realize the connection had been severed until she had tried to open it.

Since then, Raven had taken to meditating almost constantly. She had to meditate every day to keep her emotion-driven powers under control; that need had increased as she had begun worrying about her friend. Robin was also making things difficult. His normally strong psychic blocks had come crashing down from the stress and Raven was having a hard time blocking him. Finally, she meditated in an effort to find Starfire.

Raven was hoping that one of three things might happen: first, Starfire might break through, even for just a moment and Raven would be able to zero in on her location; second, if she concentrated hard enough, she might increase her abilities and overcome the blockage; or third, if she meditated at various locations in the city, proximity might affect her results. So far, nothing was working.

Raven felt that Star was still alive, but she didn't know why. Maybe it was more that she hoped Star was alive. Changing locations was a slim chance, but she had learned that many telepaths with undeveloped powers (like hers) fared better when they were closer to the person they were trying to contact; touching the person (though not an option right now) helped even more.

So the goth teen meditated…and meditated…and meditated.

Beast Boy had jumped her case a few days ago, insisting that she wasn't doing her share of the searching. She'd had to explain to her teammates exactly what she was trying to accomplish. Robin had agreed that it was a good use of her time and powers; he had also begun regularly asking for updates on her progress. She found this quite irritating since he had to know that she would tell him as soon as she found anything, but she didn't have the heart to yell at him. His expression when he asked was always that of a tired, hopeful, desperate puppy. Even she couldn't be mean to a puppy.


	9. Brand Name

I want to apologize to those of you who have been faithful readers. I moved (a whole other horror story in itself) and began graduate school.

This story has been eating at me for many months now and I have gotten a couple of flames (used to heat water for a bath while my water heater was broken for 2 weeks).

The good news is…even though there has been this ungodly gap between chapters, I have other material already written…25 pages in fact. Between here and chapter 17 I have some gaps to fill in, then I have lots and lots of stuff…so do not despair. Now…on to the good stuff…

Chapter 9: Brand Name

Starfire hurt all over. Her meager clothing was covered with dirt and blood stains. Slade had come back several times in the last few… hours, days, weeks? and given her a fresh set of cuts and bruises each time. At one point, he had twisted her arm behind her back until her shoulder dislocated from the strain. She had had to bite her lip to keep from shrieking then, but when he later forced her to the floor and held her down with one foot and while he jerked her arm back into its socket, her screams of agony could not be contained.

Food had come twice. Once it had been a ham sandwich and juice. The second time had been some sort of nutrition bar and water. Both times the food had disappeared within minutes.

Now she lay on the floor, listening to her tummy rumble and taking stock of her injuries. Truthfully, her nose bothered her the most. Slade had punched her there during his first attack and had repeatedly hit her there since. It was terribly swollen and tender and it was hard to breathe through her nostrils. Her sinuses had become clogged as well, making her whole face ache from more than just Slade's fists.

Starfire was healing relatively well so far; one of the perks about being Tamaranian was her strong immune system. Still, she knew her body could not keep up for long. She was not getting enough to eat nor was she well-rested in the least. It would not be too much longer before she _really_ began to hurt.

Humming songs, playing puzzle games in her head (if two trains leave the station at the same time…), and meditating were her only means of distraction. Anything else required precious energy that she could not spare.

In the distance, she heard the now familiar sound of a door creaking open and closed. She tried to shoo away the morbid thoughts that had begun to fill her head at that sound. "Will this be the time he kills me?" was a non-favorite. Rather, she steeled herself for whatever might come.

The second creaking door, that belonging to her cell, did not sound. Instead came searing pain. Slade was using the device he had attached to the back of her neck to shock her. These were not the short zaps that she had gotten when she had tried to remove the device; these were long, drawn-out shocks. The kind that took her breath away and made her eyes bulge in their sockets.

It would not stop; the shocks kept coming. He would give her the slightest of breaks…almost as if his finger had gotten tired…and then it would begin again. She had seen the control device on his gauntlet before; she knew he was doing this to her and it made her want to strangle him.

"This must be what it is like to have 'the seizure'," she thought as her body spasmed again. Her skin and muscles felt like they were on fire. She could feel her body being sapped of its energy; could feel the darkness creep up on her. Even though she tried to fight it, she lost in the end.

She woke up slowly. Gravity felt out of sorts. After a few moments she realized that it was because she was hanging from the ceiling rather than lying on the floor. Her feet weren't completely off the ground so she wasn't just hanging by her wrists; at least not once she stood and put her weight on the balls of her feet. Her shoulders ached from the weight they had been forced to hold and she tried to move the stiff muscles. As she shifted her weight from her wrists to her feet, there was a clinking sound. Her ankles were also bound.

She looked up and down to examine the restraints. Pretty simple set-up. Metal cuffs with key locks, metal chains, each linked through a single metal 'O' which was welded to another piece of metal, this one a flat rectangle with a bolt in each corner, mounting it to the ceiling or floor. A few tugs let her know that she wasn't going anywhere until someone unlocked her.

"Now what?" she thought irritably. This entire starvation/abuse/prisoner ordeal was getting on her nerves. It was then that she noticed Slade in the corner, standing over some kind of grill or stove. There were three instruments on the heating device. Starfire's brain put heat, instruments, and being chained all together and decided that she was now in an even more foul mood.

"I see that you're awake…good. I was starting to think that perhaps I was a little too excessive with the neural punishment." Slade said.

'Neural punishment?' Starfire almost laughed at the label he had created.

"I think it is time that you understand two things," he continued. "First, you are here for a purpose and that purpose has very little to do with you personally. I could have killed you without ever taking you from Titan's Tower, but that does not serve my ultimate purpose." He fiddled with the instruments, staring into the flames as he spoke.

"My purpose is to make Robin suffer and the more you suffer, the more he will suffer. You will be returned to your teammates…but not for quite some time…and not alive."

Starfire couldn't help but let out a tiny gasp at such a cruel and blunt statement. He was going to keep her here until she died and then let the Titans find her body. She had tried to keep away from such thoughts, but he could not have made his intentions any clearer.

He picked up one of the instruments and approached her. He paused for a moment, watching her as she attempted to wriggle free. Suddenly, a hand shot out and wrapped itself around her neck; at almost the same time, she felt a burning sensation against her belly.

The burning spread as he quickly pressed the instrument against her body again and again in different spots; each contact lasting only two or three seconds. She tried to scream, tried to fight, but he had an iron-grip on her throat and was cutting off her oxygen.

Finally, he let her go and stepped back. She heaved, gasping for air, and attempted to regain her footing. She could feel the stinging of the burns; one near her navel, one below her breastbone, and two on her left thigh.

Slade moved back to the heating device, replaced the instrument, and selected a second one. Whereas the first one had been blunt at the end, this one was sharp. Starfire could see it glowing with red, searing heat and unconsciously tried to back away as he came toward her again.

Gripping her face with his left hand, he held her head still as he menaced her with the spear-like object, bringing it perilously close to her left eye. She could feel the intense heat radiating from it, drying the moisture from her eye and searing her skin. She closed her eyes, grit her teeth, and waiting for the, literally, blinding pain. While the pain did come, it was not where she had expected it to be; rather it was in her abdomen. She was vaguely aware of a tearing sound and the smell of cooking flesh, but mostly she felt the stinging agony of being impaled.

Slade had released his grip on her and watched her horrified expression as she looked down to see the scorching rod still protruding from her gut. Even though she could not see it, she knew it had gone completely through her. Slade gripped the weapon and gave it a little wiggle before finally yanking it loose. Starfire's scream caught in her throat and all she could manage was nauseous groan. She had expected to see blood pour from the wound, but after a moment she realized that the heat had cauterized the blood vessels, effectively staunching any excessive bleeding.

Continuing to stand and watch her, Slade took a deep breath and Starfire realized that he was enjoying the smell of her burnt flesh. He was enjoying her pain. The thought made her want to gag.

Finally, he stepped away, back to the flaming heater. Starfire felt a rising of anger toward him. She abhorred being confined and turned into a victim. Normally, no enemy would be foolish enough to turn away from her after injuring her so, but Slade was not afraid of her; did not even consider her to be a threat. She was a proud warrior turned into a pathetic, helpless punching bag. It was humiliating and she knew that that was the point.

This was not the first time these thoughts had occurred to her, nor was it the first time she had become angry. She very much wanted to escape and make sure that he was justly punished, but being chained and having her powers cut off made that rather difficult. She was feeling particularly snappish.

"What is the second thing I am to know? That you have too much of the free time or that you are mentally unstable?"

X'Hal, had she said that? Such sour words sounded almost foreign coming from her lips, yet she felt slightly better for having said them.

Slade chuckled at her zinger. "My, my," he taunted, "someone is in a foul mood, but I suppose that understandable. When one is completely defenseless and utterly helpless, one tends to rely on more…pathetic means of self-preservation."

Starfire's sense of feeling better evaporated. He was right; her words had affected him less that a gnat attacking a brick wall. He was in control here and her sad attempt to regain an iota of her dignity served only to show him how much of it he had taken.

"People like to mark what is theirs. They label things, personalize them, and go to great lengths to indicate what is in their possession. People who own cattle even go so far and to burn symbols onto the hides of the animals to identify them as their own. This process is called branding."

He removed the third instrument from the flames and headed for her again. As he approached, she could see that the end was the shape of the stylized "S" he wore as his moniker.

"This is the second thing you are to understand…," he went on, "You belong to me now"


End file.
